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THE SKI INDUSTRY SAYS THE sport is safer than ever, and there is little reason to doubt it despite the tragic and apparently accidental deaths of five skiers in one recent week on or near Mammoth Mountain. What is frustrating, however, is that there is no way to verify the industry’s claims or to compare one resort’s safety record to another’s -- even though most skiing occurs on public land.

More than one-half of skiers ski on land owned by the U.S. Forest Service, and the ratio is even higher in Western states. In theory, that should mean the public should be able find out all kinds of information about what happens on the slopes. In reality, it’s futile even to try.

Federal officials say they don’t collect data on injuries, and although the industry does, it doesn’t make it public. Resorts are required by law to report fatalities and some catastrophic accidents, but they do not have to issue more detailed reports.

The industry is happy to report that injuries are at an all-time low. According to the National Ski Areas Assn. there were 45 deaths nationwide last year, as well as an estimated 135,000 injuries, both figures lower than rates a decade ago. That means the sport is significantly safer than when many skiers started out. So why not disclose more information?

One explanation is that ski resorts, like all businesses, dislike negative publicity. The industry also may still be traumatized by the many lawsuits that injured skiers won in the late 1970s and ‘80s. But such a wave of litigation isn’t likely to happen again. Since then, owners have successfully lobbied more than two dozen state legislatures to pass broad liability protections, making it difficult for an injured skier to win a suit against a resort.

On the other hand, ski resorts offer a lot more opportunity for injury than they used to. With attendance sluggish over the last decade, resorts have been wooing baby boomers and their adrenaline-crazed children with an array of faster and potentially more dangerous activities. More slopes are now groomed, making for faster runs. Scenic trails through woods bring skiers closer to trees and other hazards. And faster lifts mean most skiers are doing more runs in a single day, on more tired knees.

They’re free to make as many runs as they can, of course. But the ski resorts should also be more forthcoming about the specific dangers people face.